Upgrading Options For A Generic PC

[Starlifter60 83]

Hello all,

I've been using a relatively modest generic PC for 4-5 years now and I'd like to get some opinions on the viability of a component upgrade vs a new system. I run MSFS with mostly high settings and fairly decent performance (using PMDG 737, add on airports, etc..) but I feel the visual quality is lacking. I'm okay with the 25-30 FPS I get but everything looks not nearly as sharp as what others post on these forums. Would like to get some expert input....

i7 7700 @3.6Ghz
16G RAM with two open slots
Generic 1070 card w/8G
MSI Bazooka MS-7A70 mobo that can't be overclocked
HP 27" Monitor...budget special

Would a newer generation video card work on this board? Would I also need to upgrade to more RAM? Would any of this be worth the effort or would a new system be a better way to go (other than the expense)?

Thanks in advance!

Brian
 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Starlifter60
New Info

[ckyliu 1,749]

You can get away with 16 GB RAM, although 24 GB would be preferable. If you upgrade the 1070 (the latest cards should still work with PCIe x16) you will find the CPU start to hold you back, but then you're getting to new system territory.

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

If you turn on developer mode while flying in a scenario in which you normally use MSFS, the FPS display will tell you whether you are GPU or CPU (main thread) limited by the frame times it shows.

If both are similar numbers, then upgrading one component will only leave the other as the weakest link and you will not see much overall performance gain. In this case, a full system upgrade is the only realistic option.

If one frame time is significantly greater than the other, then upgrading that component with the longer frame time will net a significant performance boost. eg. if your GPU frame time is 20ms (showing it is capable of 50 FPS) versus 40ms (limiting you to 25 FPS) for the CPU, then upgrading you CPU should reduce that CPU frame time closer to the GPU's frame time and give you a commensurate increase in FPS, hence making it worthwhile to upgrade your CPU.

As a general rule, the lower the MSFS resolution you run, the more impact a CPU upgrade will give over a GPU upgrade. I run MSFS in high res VR, so I am pretty much GPU limited most of the time, so a GPU upgrade would benefit me the most.

 

[Fielder 3,676]

If you plan to keep the motherboard you might want to know a couple things: Which cpu's will that MB take after you run a BIOS update to latest driver? How many watts will the MB easily deliver without throttling back the cycles per second on the cpu?

Some old MB's can't use certain or any of  the latest cpus.

Some old MB's can use them, but  are not designed to power such high powered cpus running full blast, and when under a heavy load will throttle back processor speed. 

I don't anything about MB's for Intel cpus. I do know what Youtubers showed me about the Asus boards for AMD cpus.

What they said was:

The Asus 300 series MB's cannot be updated in the Bios for todays nice AMD cpus.

The A400 series can be updated to those. They are compatible, but can't really deliver enough power, so they throttle. But a B400 series is compatible with the latest AM4 cpus AND power them fully.

The 500 series have more features than the B400. Both have good power delivery and compatibility. 

The best for your money AM4 socketed cpu is the Ryzen 5 5600+. The 7000 and 9000 series have more cores, which isn't going to help very much with MSFS and is going to require more supplied power and more cooling.

The good gpus are 3600ti, 3700, 3700ti, 3800, 3800ti, 3900, 3900ti.

As a rule for power supply get a 'gold' or 'platinum' rated PSU that delivers at least twice the watts of the GPU spec. 

My 600 watt gold gpu runs a RTX 3700.

3600 (170 watts).

3600ti (200 watts). 

3700 (220 watts) 

A 3700 ti (290 watts).  (I don't want my 600 watt gold psu to try and power this gpu. Twice 290 is too close to 600).

3800, 3800ti, 3900 (all 350 watts).

3900ti (450 watts).

The RTX gpus are the ones that will do DLSS. 

[ckyliu 1,749]

6 hours ago, Fielder said:

If you plan to keep the motherboard you might want to know a couple things: Which cpu's will that MB take after you run a BIOS update to latest driver? How many watts will the MB easily deliver without throttling back the cycles per second on the cpu?

Some old MB's can't use certain or any of  the latest cpus. Some old MB's can use them, but  are not designed to power such high powered cpus running full blast, and when under a heavy load will throttle back processor speed.

Intel change sockets more frequently than AMD so generally after a BIOS update the motherboard will run any CPU on that socket at full power.

Although in the OPs case the LGA1151 socket came in two generations, and he has the latest processor (7th gen Kaby Lake) that will run on the earlier LGA1151 so he can't really swap to another used processor, he's already at the top tier for that socket. I believe 8th to 9th gen used LGA1151 in a second revision.

LGA 1200 was used for 10th and 11th gen. 12th gen used LGA1700. So to change the CPU now, they would have to swap the motherboard.